The majority of inventory in retail stores is carried in a form of shelving construction utilizing gondolas or trays for the products. Such format has changed little over the years. A floor platform supports a vertical upright backing board which defines the gondola. The gondola includes vertical weight-supporting uprights having a plurality of vertical slots. The slots and uprights are adapted to support shelving and other elements in or on which merchandise is placed for display. While such gondolas are typically employed for the display of goods directly on the selling floor, similar structures are employed in freezer cases and the like for the display and storage of refrigerated goods.
Such gondolas are required to display and support an ever increasing number of products in a staggering assortment of packaging and in an ever decreasing amount of space. However, the current gondola shelving systems typically use space relatively inefficiently and are ill-equipped to handle a variety of products. The result is that there is typically not enough gondola space available to keep and display all the desired products neatly and efficiently.
Conventional gondola shelving generally consists of a horizontal shelf supported by outwardly-extending brackets connected to vertical supports. To reduce their weight and cost, such shelves can be constructed of interconnecting wire rods forming a wire mesh or mat. Such wire mat shelves are used most often in refrigerated environments because they do not inhibit air flow significantly.
Typically, the openwork layer of wire rods of such shelves forms a horizontal support surface over which products can slide. However, the shelf does not provide control for the motion of the products which can therefore become mixed and disorganized. Also, the front-to-back position of such prior art shelves is fixed, limiting the flexibility of the shelf system.
Therefore, what is desired is a shelving system which includes a wire mat shelf of a light-weight and economical construction which is rigid and able to support a significant amount of weight, which has a means to control the movement of products thereon, and which is adjustable to efficiently display products of varying sizes and shapes.